So I recently have gotten back into yoyo-ing after 2 years. However, my cascade and halo are much louder now. Should I just clean the bearings with lube or are mineral spirits necessary? Or should I replace them?

You can clean the bearings in mineral spirits, being sure to remove the shields. I’d also give them a drop of lube each after they dry before playing them. (There’s no such thing as cleaning with lube, it’d just thicken the bearing up and make it responsive haha )

You could always just purchase a couple new bearings if you’d like as well.

Yah, I’d definitely clean it with Mineral Spirits and then do some Thin Lube action to it. Especially if the Yo-Yo was exposed to the Elements and collected dust or dirt particles, that can really affect your Yo-Yo’s performance.

As mentioned above, if all else fails you can just get a new C Bearing. The YYE has Golden Plated Center Tracs, now. ;D